Recently Asked Questions

Our library is always seeking ways to promote literacy, exercise, and park visits with community partners. One proposal we received was to take some books apart, laminate the separate pages, and mount them on display posts throughout a park, creating a moving, learning experience. 

I have a copyright concern. Can we “dismember” the books and laminate the pages and still respect the books’ copyright?

My library has long been in the practice of charging what we often refer to as a "research fee" or "consulting fee." I am familiar with some libraries who have a similar practice, but wonder if it's legal for us to charge an hourly rate for work done by volunteers? The workflow has always been as follows: a reference request is received by the Librarian, a determination of whether the question is appropriate for our collection is made, then the work is delegated to a volunteer. In general, we've never taken on a job of over 2 hours, and most questions relate to our genealogy collections / searching vital records.

We received two grant applications for projects involving the digitization of high school student newspapers/magazines. The schools have given permission for these materials to be made available on a historic resource-focused, free database.

When our board was reviewing these grant applications, it was brought up that sharing student publications may not be possible under FERPA regulations. The board was concerned that these student publications might be considered educational records, which under FERPA would be subject to restricted access. If FERPA applies to these materials, they could not be uploaded and made accessible via an online database, and consequently would not be eligible for grant funding.

Does FERPA regulate student publications? Are there any other legal reasons student could not be made available freely in an online repository?

Thank you!

Does the TEACH Act allow a school to stream entire movies, if the movies could otherwise be shown in their entirety in class?

[The member provided a link to a story about an elementary school principal putting on her pajamas and using “Facebook Live” to read her scholars a weekly bedtime story.]

I always love ideas like this but am afraid to promote them because I have heard that this is a copyright violation. Is it? If it is, what are our options to do something like it in a legal and ethical way? Thank you!